suggestions please for non-whey or dairy shakes

[doreen T]

Hi all,

Anybody have suggestions for a shake-like creation made from something other than whey protein, cream or other dairy and also no psyllium?? I've had soy before, unfortunately most of the brands that are actually palatable, like GeniSoy, are also high carb, 12 to 16 per serving. I have some plain 0 carb isolated soy here. I wonder if I could give a try with coconut milk, or maybe make some homemade nut milk. Wish I had DaVinci syrup, but I don't, and I'm unable and unwilling to drive all over the place to look for it.

It's not a crisis, I can live without having a shake for breakfast, but it would be nice for something fast, filling and hi-protein, lo-carb over the holidays, especially when I'm sick of ham and turkey!! :p

Please tell me if you know of a soy shake that's LOWCARB, preferably less than 5 per serving, and if it's at least palatable.

thanks, Doreen

[tamarian]

Hi Doreen,

Try the 0 carb isolated soy you have with the coconut milk. Use ice cubes as thickner, and sugar-free syrup for flavour. These syrups can be found at any coffee shop, some brands like Oscar. Starbucks have their own brand I think. They use Aspartame but you won't need much if you use Splenda. You may also flavour with extracts as well, or cocoa powder. Lot's of room for creativity here :)

Wa'il

[IslandGirl]

Hi, Doreen.

Here's a couple of possibilities that may help:

I've found Enerex Ultimate Soya (uses SuPro) that's zero-carb SPI (Soy Protein Isolate) at the local HFS. Pretty good (as in "no") flavour. Also, Naturade Vegetable Protein (Soy Free) with 3 grams carb (unknown fibre) in a 28.4g serving. I'm not fond of the "raw bean" taste of most SPIs... subsitute these for the WPI in any shake recipe. Thickening power varies.

I will also use ground flaxseed meal instead of psyllium husk, if thickening is required. We KNOW that's good for you, with fibre and essential Omega-3 oils.

Also, I agree with Wa'il, coconut milk is a good substitute. I've found (in the import section at, say, Superstore/Loblaws) dried coconut milk "powder" and "coconut cream" that comes in a brick with the texture of frozen lard [lol!] that could be useful to you. The biggest problem with coconut products, though, is the all-too-common addition of sulfites in one form or another. Highly allergenic as you probably know but at least it's mandatory on ingredient labels (if they're in English). Thai Kitchen coconut milk (Light or regular) is the one brand I've found that doesn't contain them, I use it exclusively. Slightly more in cost but worth it.

As for the syrups, JJ Bean coffee shops (here in BC at least) carry as regular stock the DaVinci Gourmet SF Almond, Hazelnut, Vanilla and Irish Cream. The other flavours are available (so far) by special order and in 6-bottle minimums (this is one of the reasons I started the LC "Co-op"!), takes about 3 weeks from ordering. I would tend to use readily available pure Almond and Vanilla extracts for 2 of those flavours myself <grin>. I have every extract I could find in any grocery store on my kitchen shelf, mind you. Also, a confectionary shop/speciality baking shop (they make wedding cakes to order and stuff like that) or a "kitchen store" sometimes carries some interesting flavours of extracts.

The Oscar and Torani brands of sugarfree syrups are readily available from a variety of coffee shops; I've only found Vanilla so far (e.g., at Starbucks), but DaVinci is the only one not using Aspartame as a sweetener so far, so that rather limits my searching in that direction. I've also "requested" a SugarFree 'flavour' purchase through one of my local coffee shops in the past (Torani SF English Toffee) but it's up to them if they can get 1 bottle and if they're willing to sell you the bottle.

Hope this helps!

[doreen T]

Seriously, thanks for all the great ideas. I thought MAYBE I'd be lucky and get one single suggestion next week sometime. LOL

These all sound wonderful, and I've printed them out. Canned coconut milk has been a staple on my shelf for years, use it all the time in curries, Thai food, etc. It's commonly available here, I get Tai-Tai brand for 85 cents, and it's preservative and additive free. I know homemade coconut milk isn't difficult, just messy and time-consuming. By the way, canned coconut milk is great in coffee too.

I bought some silken tofu, and it blends nice and thick too, with no "soy-ey" taste. Also, natural almond butter blended into a creamy "milk", with suitable flavourings added. Freshly ground flax meal IS a good thickener, thanks for the reminder.

This is great, I now feel armed and ready to face the holiday rush with some fast lowcarb meals.

Doreen